Cades Cove, Smokey Mountain NP

 

Methodist Church

Cades Cove was first settled in the 1830’s. The collection of structures along this one way road is considered to be the largest such in the East. We visited 3 churches, all replacements for the original log buildings : the Primitive Baptist Church built in 1887, the Methodist Church built in 1902, and the Missionary Baptist Church from 1915. Most of the churches ceased to meet during the Civil War and excluded Confederate sympathizers after the war. The graveyards of these churches are filled with family members some buried in the early 1900’s others as recent as 2021. We were treated to some women singing in the Methodist church. We also explored some of the log cabins built and expanded through the years. The Elijah Oliver house had a front room for guests to stay on the former porch as well as a corn crib, smokehouse, pig pens, and a huge barn. Log construction was used on the building until the 1870’s when a sawmill was constructed. The most interesting area is the Cable mill, a water powered grist and sawmill built in 1870. There was also a drive-through barn nearby where you could drive your hay wagon into the barn and easily pitch the hay into the barn. Here also was a one of the cantilever barns we would see today. The overhang provided shelter to the animals in the winter as well as storage space for farm equipment. On the way out, we got caught in a ‘bear jam’. A mother and 2 cubs were along the side of the road, so everyone was stopped taking pictures.

Cable Mill

We went down the mountain to take in the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, both an outdoor and indoor museum. Here was another example of a cantilevered barn, these barns are exclusive to this area of the country. Here we also saw a country still, which was still making ‘moonshine’ into the 1960’s, hidden underneath a barn. The wife tells the story of picking up multiple bags of grain from the general store in her car trunk, and then having a flat tire on the way home. She didn’t want to arouse suspicion, so she assured the officer, she could fix her own flat. Another outdoor display was a two-man sawmill that had provided lumber to the area. Inside, we read the story of both the Native Americans and the settlers that came to this area.

Hidden Moonshine Still